A Hacker's Superbowl Tailgate: Sports Hack Day

This Sunday, millions of sports fans around the world will sit in front of televisions and watch the biggest professional football game of the year. Among those watching will be a select group of hackers and data crunchers in Seattle, Washington. However, instead of prepping for the big game by stocking up on salsa and beer; these hackers will participate in Sports Hack Day and be a part of "building applications that change the way people follow sports and interact with their favorite teams and fellow fans."

Sports Hack Day kicks off February 1, and will host one of the most unique (and talented) group of sports enthusiasts around. After a keynote from Vantage Sports CTO, Cameron Tangney, attendees will form into teams and tackle sports themed projects. Teams may submit projects in one of two categories: 1) Apps 2) Data (create visualization, infographic, or other insight).

Leaders from the sports (e.g. ESPN) and technology (e.g. Mashery, Google, Amazon, Cloudant, etc.) worlds have come together to sponsor and deliver this event that is sure to stir up creative new sports related mashups and apps. Prizes range from sports gear and gadgets, to MIT conference tickets. Teams submit projects on Sunday to a panel of five judges (including PW's own John Musser) just before sitting down to enjoy the big game. Those interested can register for $20 at the tickets page.

About the author:Eric Carter
Eric the founder of Dartsand and Corporate Counsel for a specialty technology distributor. He is a frequent contributor to technology media outlets and also serves as primary legal counsel for multiple startups in the Real Estate, Virtual Assistant, and Software Development Industries. Follow me on Google+